Legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye has tested positive for coronavirus and has been hospitalized in Georgia due to kidney problems. It was first announced by the Toccoa United Methodist Church in Toccoa, Georgia, as it sent an email to its members. The email revealed Dye’s current condition which includes “loss of appetite and some confusion.”
“Please join us in praying for and lifting up Jayne Snell’s brother, Pat Dye,” the email read. “Pat recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has since been hospitalized with ongoing kidney problems.” The email goes on to reveal the accomplishments Dye achieved at Auburn, which led to the football field being renamed in his honor. “Pat is loved by so many people far and wide and there is no better reminder of this love than constant prayer for him and his family,” the email stated.
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Auburn coaching legend Pat Dye was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week and hospitalized in Atlanta.
He returned Auburn to national prominence when he posted a 99-39-4 record with four SEC titles from 1981-92. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. pic.twitter.com/Lfdcak2qb4
— Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) May 21, 2020
Dye, 80, became the head coach at Auburn in 1981. Under his leadership, Auburn was one of the top football programs in the 1980s, winning the SEC Championship in 1983, 1987, 1988 and 1989, becoming the fourth head coach in SEC history to win three consecutive conference titles. Dye is a three-time winner of SEC Coach of the Year and coached Bo Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1985. Dye’s best season at Auburn was in 1983 when the team finished with an 11-1 record and finished No. 3 in both national polls. In his 12 seasons at Auburn, Dye posted a 99-39-4 record. He tallied a 153-62-5 record in his entire college coaching career, spending time in East Carolina and Wyoming before coming to the Plains. He was inducted into the College Football Hall Fame in 2005.
Dye started his coaching career at Alabama, working as a linebackers coach under Hall of Famer Paul “Bear” Bryant. “I sent him a letter,” Dye said in 2016 when talking about getting a job at Alabama. “I said, ‘Coach, I’m still playing football, but if I had the chance to come to Alabama, I would give up playing for an opportunity to coach there.’ A few days later, I got a letter back from him. He said, ‘I haven’t decided what kind of coach I want to hire, but if I decide to hire a young, inexperienced coach, I will give you consideration.’” Dye played college football at Georgia where he was an All-American in 1959.
